drain blockage renting

chichi1978

Hi experts,

I moved to my new house two weeks ago and the drain was blocked, I was able to survive temporarily, and now they fixed it…

But the letting company says I should pay for it, they claim: “The council have confirmed that the blockage was caused by fat and food in the drain, this is not something that the landlord can control, as it is a tenant caused issue, the invoice for the work needs to be settled by the tenants.”

How is this possible? I have barely used it in two weeks, it was clearly created by the previous tenants… They know it. Why they try to charge me? How can/should I reply to it?

beckysheffield

Nah of course you shouldn!!!8217;t pay. You couldn!!!8217;t have done damage in two weeks and if the council are involved, don!!!8217;t you pay council tax for them to clean drains?

Is your bond securely kept?

theartfullodger

The landlord (thus agent for them..) are ALWAYS responsible for drains - see s11 of LL&T Act 1985...
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1985/70/section/11

11 Repairing obligations in short leases.

(1) In a lease to which this section applies (as to which, see sections 13 and 14) there is implied a covenant by the lessor—

(a) to keep in repair the structure and exterior of the dwelling-house (including drains, gutters and external pipes),

(b) to keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling-house for the supply of water, gas and electricity and for sanitation (including basins, sinks, baths and sanitary conveniences, but not other fixtures, fittings and appliances for making use of the supply of water, gas or electricity), and..etc etc etc...

So Landlord has to pay: However, if Landlord (..or agent..) thinks it is tenant what caused it he can invite tenant to pay. If tenant declines to pay he can either go small-claims route or try & take the ££££ from deposit at end of tenancy, using the dispute resolution process if they can't agree.

But as this happened within 2 weeks of start how the f*c* does he know who dunnit, eh? I'd decline to pay, probably decline to respond.

Your problem is, thanks to Thatcher, a landlord can evict a tenant for no reason at all. So perhaps some dialogue/compromise may be wise.

If, however, there were say photos of the offending (in both senses..) items traceable to OP, perhaps cough up anyway. (Some drain clearing companies will happily provide photos..)

Mahsroh

chichi1978 wrote: »

Hi experts,

I moved to my new house two weeks ago and the drain was blocked, I was able to survive temporarily, and now they fixed it!!!8230;

But the letting company says I should pay for it, they claim: !!!8220;The council have confirmed that the blockage was caused by fat and food in the drain, this is not something that the landlord can control, as it is a tenant caused issue, the invoice for the work needs to be settled by the tenants.!!!8221;

How is this possible? I have barely used it in two weeks, it was clearly created by the previous tenants!!!8230; They know it. Why they try to charge me? How can/should I reply to it?

So, the drain was blocked when you moved in? And you reported it immediately.


I suspect the letting agent simply haven't thought it through. They've seen that the blockage was caused by food/fat and therefore taken the standard stance that it's the tenants issue. I would just reply and point out that the blockage already existing on the day you moved in, and therefore has not been caused by yourself, and just politely tell them that they've made a mistake.